


Starlight Burning Bright

by MossyFlossy



Series: Life Outside the Library [3]
Category: The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 17:36:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18154937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MossyFlossy/pseuds/MossyFlossy
Summary: Kai needs a break from London, and for once, it is Irene dragging him around the shops.





	Starlight Burning Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kai517_TeenWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kai517_TeenWriter/gifts).



“Kai!” She called his name through the dark and it echoed through the nothingness. He spun but she wasn’t there. He couldn’t see her. There was nothing to see until the flames jumped up again, and then he was running as soon as he saw the shadow. It disappeared when the fire did, appearing when they leapt up again. But then it would fade. 

It was always the same distance. Too far away, he couldn’t reach her.   
“Kai!” She was scared, screaming above the crackling flames. Desperation rang in her voice.   
“Irene!” He shouted back. “Where are you?” Silence. He was surrounding by a circle of flames that jumped up and crackled loud enough to drown out anything, no matter how loudly she could scream. 

“Irene!”   
“Kai!” 

“Kai!” Irene roughly shook him, and he opened his eyes, blinking as he looked up at her, his head across her legs, Vale stood at the foot of the sofa.  
“’Rene?” Kai’s voice was thick with sleep. “Vale? How long have I been asleep for? What day is it?” It had been one of those naps that you wake up from with no knowledge of having actually fallen asleep and no knowledge of how long it had been. 8  
“Still the same day as earlier, and only about half an hour.” Kai yawned and sat up and stretched. “You were dreaming again.” She said.   
“It doesn’t not feel like it.” He frowned at Vale. “What brings you here?”  
“Case.” Vale replied, waving a small wooden box.

“Why do you have a Chinese puzzle box?” He all but jumped up to snatch it from Vale’s hands and began to fiddle with it. “I am allowed to try and get it open, right?” He looked so excited, child-like in his eagerness. He looked between them both, a genuine light in his eyes, something Irene had struggled to see behind the exhausted fugue he’d been swamped with in the past few days.   
“Please do.” Vale said. “It hopefully contains some evidence. 

Kai leant on the desk as he turned it this way and that, sliding the pieces around, a couple of them clicked and if they didn’t, he slid them back.   
“It is like watching a child with a Rubik’s cube.” Irene remarked.   
“What is a Rubik’s cube?” Most of the time, Vale could ignore when Irene or Kai mentioned something that he was completely clueless on, sometimes his curiosity got the better of him.   
“It is a nine by nine by nine cube. There are nine different colours all mixed up and the idea is to sort it out so that each face of the cube is one colour.” Kai said, not looking up. “I think they are Russian. I never got the hang of them.”   
“But you got the hang of the infinitely more complicated Chinese puzzle box?” Irene asked.   
“My honoured Father collects them. I leant to do them pretty young.” There were a series of clicks and he managed to slide one entire side a couple of millimetres along. “Damn I thought that was it. Can’t you order it open? Or is it like the false door problem?”   
“I could order it to unlock, but the final piece would just move out of place or would try to but the surrounding pieces wouldn’t let it.” 

“Why did the victim have this?” Kai asked. “Where were they from?”   
“The suspect dropped that actually.” Vale said. “It was in his bag.” It clicked again and Kai frowned.   
“Did you ever do anything like this growing up? Puzzles?”   
“My own father had a couple of those, but I never had the patience for them. I preferred the crosswords.” Irene said with a shrug. “I prefer word puzzles.”  
“Dork.”   
“Hey!”   
“I say it with affection.” He said with a smile. Irene fought the urge to roll her eyes. “And… it is open.” He said, sliding the lid off and holding it out. There was a necklace inside. 

“Excellent.” Vale said, hopping up. “Thank you. I will let you get back to sleep.”   
“You don’t need help?” Kai asked almost hopefully.   
“I will likely spend the rest of the day checking with pawn shops.” Vale said. “And you clearly haven’t had more than four hours sleep at a time for over a month now. Have a good day.” Kai waited for Vale to be gone before turning to Irene.   
“Do I really look that bad?” He asked. 

His skin was pale cream like always with the blue of his veins clearly visible down his throat and across his eyelids. His eyes were dark and deep and definitely distracting, but there were purple circles round them, like bruises or poorly washed off eye liner. Irene crossed the room and cupped his face in her hands.   
“I wish I could help you.” She said softly. “You look exhausted.”   
“I feel fine.”   
“Kai, you can admit to being tired you know.”   
“It would be like admitting to a weakness.” He muttered.   
“And what is wrong with that?” Irene asked. He just shook his head and did not answer.

“Tell me about your dream.” She said.   
“Nightmare. That wasn’t a dream. It was… worrying. I could hear you shouting my name, and I could see you, but I couldn’t reach you. No matter how fast I ran, or how long I ran for. You were always out of reach. I was alone.” She took his hand.   
“I am not going anywhere.” She cupped his face. “I… I don’t know how to help you Kai. I want to, but I don’t know how to, or what to do.” She leant forwards to kiss his forehead. 

Irene washed up after he made dinner that night. It was oddly domestic. Or at least, Irene found it a little odd. She was used to being alone. Even in the Library, living with other people, they all left each other alone to do their own things. It wasn’t taking it in turns to do the cooking or the cleaning, it wasn’t coming home to someone or picking up the paper. It was being alone in a sea of likeminded people. 

Living with Kai was different. 

It was hard to feel alone when he was there. He kissed her when she woke up. He learnt what food she liked and cooked it for her. He held her after her nightmares, and she held him after his. He used up all the hot water in the showers, and she repaid him by putting her ice cold hands on his neck. She finished off the tea, so he finished off the milk. 

He loved her. 

And she loved him. 

“What are you thinking about?” Kai asked, leaning against the doorway, sleeves rolled up to his elbow, tie discarded somewhere in the study, waistcoat undone, he looked positively raffish, and the way that he was looking at her certainly was not helping her think of anything but that fact.   
“You.” She said, turning back to the task at hand. He moved almost silently, coming up behind her to put his hands on her hips.   
“Oh?”   
“Mmhmm, I was just thinking that I am glad that you are living with me again. I like the company.”   
“The company?” His lips whispered along the side of her throat. “The cleaning can wait until tomorrow, right?”   
“Probably.” She continued to wash up, trying to ignore his touch. “I don’t think I should do that though.” 

“Why not?”   
“Because it will annoy you.” He growled. She smirked at the sound and wished that she could ignore the way that it made her blood rush.   
“Irene.” He purred her name. “Xingan. Come on, don’t tease me like this.” She laughed.   
“Then don’t be so needy. I am sure you can wait five minutes.”   
“Five minutes for you to finish washing up. And then go upstairs, and get ready for bed, or finish your work, make sure that the doors and windows are locked and that the curtains are closed. And anything else that you decide to do.” Kai whined.   
“Five minutes to do the washing up.” She said softly. “And however long it takes you to get me out of my clothes.”   
“In the kitchen?”

 

Irene was awoken with a jolt. Kai was murmuring in his sleep, curled up on the other side of the bed, as far away from her as he could get. She checked the time, five in the morning, they had only called it a night four hours prior.   
“Kai.” She whispered his name, hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. “Kai. Wake up.” His eyes fluttered but he couldn’t keep them open. He groaned and she pinched him.   
“Ow! ‘Rene?”   
“You were talking in your sleep.” She said, he rolled over onto his back and she draped herself across his chest. “Bad dream?”   
“They keep getting worse.” He muttered, voice thick with sleep, all husky and rough. “What time is it?”   
“Five-ish.” She replied, he groaned again.   
“Get off me a minute.” He sat up to drink some water, and then he folded himself around her body, cradling her against his chest. 

Irene tucked her head underneath his chin.   
“Go back to sleep.” She whispered, her breath tickled against his skin. “Rest, I am not going anywhere.”   
“You are safe.” He said. “I have you. You are safe.”   
“I know.” She replied. “Go to sleep. We are both safe.” 

Irene accidentally woke him when she tried to ease out of his embrace a few hours later. He squeezed her.   
“Do we have to get up?” He asked.   
“Well, yes.” She said. “For starters, I am really hungry, second of all, you promised me a trip to Oxford today.” He swore.  
“Right. I did that. Okay. Give me… an hour more to sleep and then I will get up and we can go and buy a ridiculous quantity of books.”

Irene showered and ate whilst Kai rolled over and snored into the pillow for another forty five minutes before he woke up naturally and dragged himself out of bed.   
“One of these days I may learn to be a morning person.” He grumbled as he made coffee.   
“Can you remember waking up early this morning?”  
“No. Though I do have a mystery bruise on my upper arm.”   
“That was because I pinched you because you wouldn’t wake up.” Irene said with a shrug. “Sorry, I forget how easily you bruise.”   
“Ah. Did I wake you up?”   
“You can’t remember?” He shook his head. “You had a nightmare, I woke you because you were talking in your sleep. When you did wake up, you were very protective, said that you were going to keep me safe.” He leant against the counter top as the kettle began to boil. 

“Sorry.” He finally said. “For waking you. And for… that.”  
“It would have been sweet if you weren’t always so hot and weren’t so intent on holding me for the entire night. But on the upside, you don’t seem to have had another dream.”   
“You think I am hot?”   
“I think that you are incorrigible. Eat, drink, I am going to get the paper, and then we are going to get the train.” 

The bookstore that Irene dragged Kai to Oxford to visit did not seem like much from the outside, a traditional store front for second hand books, battered ones in boxes outside of the door, just like the ones that she would frequent alone Charing cross road. It was tucked out of the way on a side street not far from the Bodleian Library, they had taken a few minutes to admire that, Kai still appreciating the place despite not being a Librarian anymore. 

A bell rang overhead as Irene pushed the door open and they stepped inside. The place smelt like the Library. Ink and dust and paper. Polish on wooden bookcases and leather. Irene headed to the back to look at the rare books locked away behind glass doors, it was sad to see them like that. Books were made to be read, not hoarded and never touched. Kai milled around, picking up books that piqued his interest and putting them down again when he realised that they were nothing special. 

He could hear Irene talking to the owner as he wondered up and down high shelves that seemed to be loaded to the stressing point and the worry that they may collapse on him wormed its way into his head. He had seen a bookcase collapse on Irene when they had first moved to London and it had been put together wrong. She had been hit by a cascade of books and then sat dumbly on the floor before finally muttering a curse because now they were all out of order. 

There was a spiral staircase of wrought iron up to the second floor, half of which overlooked the ground floor. The bookcases up here were shorter and there were fewer of them, but there were a couple of dusty armchairs and a plump, orange tabby cat that purred when he walked past and ran his fingers down it’s back. It meowed as he walked away.   
“I’ll be back.” He promised it before looking through the shelves. 

He returned to the cat with a small stack of books and it sat on his lap, likely covering him in orange and white fur that would really stand out on black trousers. He flicked through the first book and put it on his right, the second went on his left as he sorted through which of the seven books he wanted. 

He could still hear Irene, clearly in an intriguing discussion with the owner. He strained his ears, she was buying a few books it seemed and was in a conversation that ping-ponged between the intriguing plot points and price. He tuned it out to start reading the first chapter of one of his books. It was an adventure story with quite a unique prose style that he found enjoying. 

“That’s where you got to.” Irene said, coming up to the top of the stairs. “Are you getting something?” He tapped a stack of four books, all in good condition but previously well-loved and three of which were in Chinese, much to his pleasure. She smiled.   
“How many are you getting then?” He asked dryly. “Just so I know how many books I have to carry around today.”   
“Very funny. Six. Including a copy of Journey to the West.” She said, smiling. “I haven’t read this version before.” Kai closed the book, scooped the cat up and popped him on the floor. It meowed, stretched and walked off to find somewhere else to sit. He brushed moulted hairs off his legs.   
“We should get a cat.”   
“No we should not. Animals do not like me as a general rule.” Irene said.

Kai had expensive taste, but even his eyes widened a little at the cost of what Irene was buying, though the Library would reimburse her for the rare ones since they would get them once she had read them, and four more common ones were for her. Contrary to his query, Irene carried her own books to a nearby café, where they got tea and dug into their books.

They ordered a fresh pot of tea when theirs ran dry, the waitress sarcastically asked if they were enjoying each other’s company.   
“Turns out you can enjoy someones company whilst doing your own thing, funny, I know.” Irene said dryly. She made a noise and stalked away, the corner of Kai’s lips quirked, and he smirked.   
“Especially when it is one of the reasons why you met?” He looked over his book to catch Irene’s eyes.   
“Especially then.” She set her book down to refill their teacups. “It makes it more enjoyable.” 

They visited four more bookshops simply because they could and there wasn’t much to do in Oxford if you weren’t a student. They didn’t need a pass to get inside of the Bodleian, so they took a look in there and Kai wondered if Irene was currently plotting any daring heists, not that she would tell him if she were, she tried to keep him out of the more illegal stuff wherever possible. 

By the time they were heading back to the train station the sun was setting and Kai was carrying half of the books that Irene had purchased. They stopped to lean on the low wall of a bridge to watch the sun as it dipped below the horizon. Kai slipped his arm around her hips and kissed her cheek.   
“I love you.” He said.   
“I love you too.” Irene replied. The sky was beautiful dusky rose, fading into a vivid orange. Irene could feel the warmth of it on her face. 

“It is peaceful here.” Kai said. Irene turned to look at him. The warm glow lit up his pale features but made the shadows deeper and his face appear more angular. “Quiet, you can see the sky and breath properly without choking.”   
“It is nice.” Irene said. “I think I would miss London if I lived here. I think you would get bored.”   
“I would be stir crazy within one week.” He said with a laugh. “No cases to help with. God, it must get so boring here.”   
“You could see the stars though.” Irene tilted her head back to look up at the sky, but it was still too light to see them. “At boarding school we used to sneak out at night. If it was warm enough, we would sit outside, have a midnight feast and watch the stars.”   
“Like in the books?”   
“Exactly.” Irene laughed. “It was peaceful. You never see the stars in London.” 

“Could we stay here tonight?” Kai asked, Irene looked at him. “I’ll get us a hotel room. I don’t want to go back just yet.”   
“Well… I suppose that there would be no harm in that.” Irene said. “We don’t exactly have the most packed of social schedules. And Vale can survive without us. Alright, why not?”   
“And you can get more books in the morning.”   
“Who would carry those?”

The hotel room was small and cosy, a quaint little room with floral counterpane on the bed, white and lacy curtains swept across the window. Irene smiled, setting the books down and rolling her shoulders.   
“It is nice.” Kai said. “Not really my style… but still nice.”   
“Not one for the cosy cottage aesthetic?” She asked.   
“I prefer silks and velvet.” He said, running his fingers along the bedding. “Cotton doesn’t feel as nice on bare skin as satin does.”   
“Less cold though.” 

When Kai woke up from his dreams, they sat on the bedroom floor next to the window, half empty wine glasses next to them. Irene leant against Kai’s chest.   
“See that star there?” She asked, pointing. Kai followed her finger and nodded. “It is called Beta Librae. Brightest star in Libra, you can’t quite see the entire constellation, I don’t think it is clear enough tonight.”   
“Beta Librae? Of course you know that one.” Irene laughed.   
“Alright then.” She poked Kai in the side before running him through the other constellations that she could name and that they could see from their spot in the window.

“Why do you do this?” He asked.   
“Stargaze? I like it.”   
“No, not that. Why do you sit up with me on nights like this? You could be asleep right now, but you chose not to be, for my sake.” He spoke quietly.   
“I love you.” Irene said with a shrug. “I care about you and I do not want you to be alone when you have nightmares. I wouldn’t want to be alone.”   
“But…”   
“Kai, I am not going to promise to always be here, I can’t do that, because I do not know what our future will hold. But I am always going to try to be here for you.” 

Kai tossed back the rest of his wine and stood up.   
“Come on, we should go back to sleep.”   
“You don’t usually sleep after a nightmare.” Irene said, but she took the proffered hand and let him haul her to her feet. He pulled her close and set a hand on her hip and put two fingers under her chin before kissing her softly.   
“I know. But if I stay up, you are going to as well.”   
“Probably. Are you sure you will be able to sleep?”   
“Even if I can’t, you’ll still be here in the morning. I think that is all I am going to need right now.” She kissed him. “Plus I can always sit and watch the stars if I wake up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure when the next part will be posted, but probably not for a few weeks, coursework is catching up on me and I don't deal well with stress. Maybe at the end of April, unless I get the next story finished sooner than that.


End file.
